Comedian Kathy Griffin to address fake Trump head controversy

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June 2 (Reuters) - Comedian Kathy Griffin, who posed with a fake bloodied and severed head depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, will hold a news conference in Los Angeles on Friday to discuss her reasons for participating in the photo shoot.

Griffin lost sponsorships and jobs, including her role as co-host of CNN's New Year's Eve coverage with journalist Anderson Cooper, after a photograph and video from the shoot appeared on social media on Tuesday.

Griffin has teamed up with civil rights lawyer Lisa Bloom in the wake of the controversy, which immediately drew calls from Trump's eldest son for employers to drop the Grammy Award-winning comedian.

"Ms. Griffin and Ms. Bloom will explain the true motivation behind the image, and respond to the bullying from the Trump family she has endured," Bloom's law firm said in a statement ahead of the 9 a.m. PDT (1600 GMT) media conference.

Bloom is the daughter of high-profile feminist lawyer Gloria Allred.

Griffin apologized in a video posted to Twitter hours after celebrity news website TMZ published a picture from the shoot with photographer Tyler Shields and an accompanying video.

Trump said the image of Griffin with the gory mask resembling him was "sick" and had traumatized his family, especially his youngest son, 11-year-old Barron.

The U.S. Secret Service, which is responsible for presidential security, has opened an inquiry into the posting of Griffin posing with the severed-head replica. (Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)